Thursday, February 16, 2017

How Victoria’s Secret Plussed up the 69th Infantry

Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment are part of the New York Army National Guard, with the headquarters of the unit being at the famed Armory on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. So when Hurricane Sandy struck the northeast years ago, they responded by aiding the citizens of New York. Victoria’s Secret plussed up the unit to help with that relief effort, providing a great (and unique) example of how civilians are critical during times of need.

When a U.S. Army unit has an element added to it (often in the form of a company or detachment from another unit), troops will sometimes refer to the larger unit as being “plussed up” with the smaller one. So even as Victoria’s Secret may have eventually displaced the soldiers from the Armory (due to the annual VS fashion show being held there in 2012) it’s fair to say that prior to that an element of VS plussed up 69th Infantry Regiment for its response to Hurricane Sandy.

Wired reported on Nov. 2, 2012 that Victoria’s Secret provided generators to the Fighting 69th after the hurricane left “the soldiers without power, hot water, or anything but the most rudimentary means of communicating with the outside world.” . . .